Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. Each terminal communicates with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. This communication link may be established via a single-input single-output, multiple-input single-output or a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system.
As wireless communication technology advances, a growing number of different radio access technologies are being utilized. For instance, many geographic areas are now served by multiple wireless communication systems, each of which can utilize one or more different air interface technologies. In order to increase versatility of wireless terminals in such a network environment, there recently has been an increasing trend toward multi-mode wireless terminals that are able to operate under multiple radio technologies. For example, a multi-mode implementation can enable a terminal to select a system from among multiple systems in a geographic area, each of which may utilize different radio interface technologies, and subsequently communicate with one or more chosen systems. Such selection capabilities may raise new issues and challenges pertinent to system selection by a terminal.